ADDIE Process - the Analysis Phase

This post is part 1 in a 5-part series on the Phases of the ADDIE Process of Instructional Design. 
Next post: Design >


One of the tools instructional designers use to create effective instructional materials is instructional design process. This is important because following a process can help ensure that there is greater quality to the finished product that is created.

In a previous post, I wrote a basic overview of the ADDIE Process for instructional design. Over the next few weeks, I am going to write a series of posts of each of the individual phases or steps in the ADDIE Process. These steps include Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate. In this post, we will focus on the Analysis phase.

Analysis
The purpose of the analysis phase is to orient yourself toward creating a successful learning experience for your learners. In this phase, you answer key, fundamental questions about the instruction you are designing. At a general level, this includes the following questions:

1. Who are we designing this instruction for? Who are the learners? This question may seem obvious at first, but gathering information about your learners' background, cultures, prior relevant knowledge, age, time constraints, etc. will give you knowledge that will help you provide effective instruction for that group.
2. What specifically do we want our learners to know and do? Most often, instructional designers will work to create a series of instructional or learning objectives. These objectives should state very clearly what the student will be able to do by the time they finish learning. If these objectives are not clear, then it is difficult to know if the instruction is successful.
3. How will we evaluate student learning? Knowing how you plan to evaluate learning will guide the manner in which you design your instruction. 
4. What is the learning context? Where will the students learn from the instruction? This is an important clarification because it affects the later phases of the instructional design process.
5. What is the performance context? Where will students apply this knowledge in the future? Knowing how and where students will use their newly acquired knowledge will help you design instruction that can be applied more readily by the learner.

Remember, there is a lot to this phase of instruction, so I encourage you to learn more about how to perform it effectively. Click here to learn about the next Phase: Design. To learn more about the Analysis Phase, read the following:

1. Read Boise State's page on Analysis
2. Read The Systematic Design of Instruction
3. Watch this introductory video on the Analysis Phase:

Click Here for next phase: Design